Pershing Square to Hold Off Real Estate Talks With Target

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New York City Pershing Square Capital Management said Monday it will hold off on discussions with the discount retailer on its proposal to spin off the company's real estate holdings—a move Target has already dismissed—until early next year.

Pershing Square Capital Management, which owns just under 10% of Target's common stock, first proposed in late October that the company should spinoff the land under its stores to create a tax-free publicly traded real estate investment trust to increase shareholder value. It offered a revised version of that plan on Wednesday.

However, on Friday, Target said it would not implement the plan and said the potential value it would create is "highly speculative."

Investor William Ackman, who heads Pershing Square, said in a statement that Pershing "respectfully disagrees" with Target's decision and will "pursue the matter in the new year, after the holiday season."